When people were completely out of sight, Clea tried to pull away from Hayden.
However, Hayden tried to support Clea all the way to the carriage.
“You can let go of me now.”
“No. I will support you until the end.”
“If it’s because of the wound, it’s just a small scratch.”
There was a little blood, but fortunately the wound wasn’t serious.
The tingling sensation was still there, but she thought it was nothing compared to the pain of the curse.
To such a Clea, Hayden said.
“Do you have no feelings for me at all?”
Along with the words asking if she had no feelings, his expression was tinged with disappointment.
Seeing Hayden’s face, Clea answered.
“I do feel sorry.”
“What exactly are you sorry for?”
“For bringing you into this situation.”
Hearing Clea’s words, Hayden felt a tightness in his chest.
“That’s not the answer I want.”
Usually, he would have just smiled and brushed it off with a glib remark, but not this time.
Hayden’s gaze as he looked at Clea was frozen cold.
She understood why he was looking at her like this.
“I’ll be more careful in the future.”
This time, it was clearly her fault, so she apologized.
In fact, she hadn’t expected Aria to draw her sword on the spot either.
What Clea had been most wary of was Grit.
He would have certainly tried to kill her somehow given this opportunity.
After all, this arranged meeting was nothing short of an optimal chance for him.
But ironically, thanks to Aria, she was able to escape without much incident.
That’s why Clea wanted to thank Aria, but Hayden seemed to think differently from her.
“My lady, you need to learn to value your life more.”
He said, trying to suppress his anger while meeting Clea’s eyes.
Meanwhile, Clea just looked at him silently upon hearing Hayden’s words.
“Even if you’re cursed, you’re still alive. And many people, including myself, will try to save you somehow.”
Clea seemed to have a general idea of what he was thinking when he said that.
She couldn’t be certain, but only three people in this world knew exactly what state she was in right now.
One was Aria Hersher, the very person who had put her in this condition.
Another was Admund Wilhelm, who had made her truly want to live.
Lastly, there was Archbishop Hayden, who had figured it out on his own without her saying anything.
At least these were the three people she knew of.
And two of them had urged her to cherish her life.
‘First was Admund, and now you.’
As Hayden said, she hadn’t valued her own life.
With no affection or lingering attachments left in this world, she hadn’t felt any particular desire to live.
Of course, things were different now, but Clea felt grateful to Hayden for saying such things.
“Please, cherish your life.”
Clea studied Hayden’s expression.
The gaze that had initially made her shiver just by meeting it was now filled with concern.
Clea smiled at Hayden’s words asking her to cherish her life.
“Thank you for saying that. I’ll keep your words deep in my heart.”
Hayden still wore an expression full of worry.
Clea took his hand in gratitude.
Hayden flinched at the touch of her hand. Her snow-white hand was as cold as ice.
As Hayden looked down at Clea, who was closing her eyes as if in prayer while holding his hand to convey her gratitude, a sorrowful feeling settled in his heart.
‘Why am I feeling angry?’
Hayden wondered.
Was it because his authority was disregarded by a mere secular figure, even if from a ducal family?
He could tolerate that level of disrespect easily enough.
From the beginning, he knew that quite a few people in the temple disregarded him knowingly or unknowingly because of his very young age.
Hayden had never developed any particular feelings even in the face of such attitudes.
If not that, then was it because he had witnessed Aria’s injustice firsthand?
That wasn’t it either.
‘No matter how pious I pretend to be, I too am rotten inside.’
Hayden was well aware that he was just as corrupt as Aria.
That’s why he didn’t get angry no matter how vile the methods he saw were.
He might think them pathetic and stupid, but he didn’t get excited over that level of things.
But now, for some reason, he felt angry, his emotions surging.
Especially when he saw the blood on Clea’s clothes, his brow furrowed.
“So what was it you wanted to obtain there?”
To slightly change the heavy atmosphere, Hayden asked what it was she had wanted to obtain there.
In response, Clea pulled out a necklace with a pendant split in half from her bosom.
“It seems this was worth taking such a risk.”
“Actually, I’m not sure yet. Whether this is really what she was looking for.”
It was too early to be certain. It was still unknown whether this necklace was indeed what Aria was looking for.
Since they had encountered each other in front of the room, it was certain that the item Aria was looking for was in Clea’s room.
As far as she could think, this was the only item that seemed likely.
Judging by how Aria didn’t show any signs of trying to search for the item, she must have realized the moment they met in that room that the pendant had already fallen into her hands.
Considering the circumstances, Clea looked at the necklace, thinking this must be the right item.
“I don’t sense any special energy from it.”
“Well. Rather than containing something, it might have been used as a tool for some purpose.”
“Come to think of it, your curse was transferred from someone else, wasn’t it?”
They both knew well whose curse it originally was.
“If this is the item I suspect it to be, Aria probably has the other half. And Aria must have used that item for some kind of trick.”
Clea said, looking at the pendant that was completely rusted due to its great age.
If this object was the starting point of the curse, it could also be an item that could further amplify the curse.
“Oh, by the way, please don’t tell Admund about this.”
She hoped that the fact that she was injured wouldn’t reach Admund’s ears.
Even Hayden was like this, so she couldn’t imagine how he would react if he found out about this.
‘Wouldn’t he immediately storm into the Hersher family?’
Clea didn’t want to worry Admund by telling him about her injury.
So she asked Hayden, but he didn’t agree.
“This incident can’t be quietly overlooked, so give up. It’s something that could trouble the Hersher ducal family in the first place, do you think Duke Odoi would let it go?”
It was also something that would never end quietly as long as Grit was around. Clea felt like sighing.
She wanted it to pass quietly, but unfortunately, the incident happened at the Odoi mansion.
“I wonder what’s become of Aria by now?”
To the question asked without much thought, Hayden replied with a bright smile not seen before.
His words had a bite to them.
“For a woman willing to sell out even her own subordinate to escape, what problems could she have?”
* * *
Grit’s gaze was directed at the teacup that had already gone cold.
The precious ingredient he had put in was well mixed in the cold teacup. It should have been empty by now.
His expression filled with dissatisfaction.
“You do realize what you’ve done in my house, don’t you?”
Aria trembled at Grit’s first words.
Unlike a little while ago when she was facing Clea, Aria had now regained her senses.
She knew very well that the current situation was extremely bad.
She wanted to leave the place right away like Clea, but the ducal family’s servants surrounding her wouldn’t let her.
Grit glared at Aria with sharp eyes.
Originally, Clea was supposed to meet her death here. The same terrible end as her mother.
But everything was ruined by someone’s clumsy, impulsive action.
“Have you thought about what will happen if this gets out?”
The person holding the upper hand now was Grit.
In other words, Aria’s life was in his hands.
Aria imagined what would happen if this got out.
At the same time, she recalled what Clea had said.
About why people had shown her favor until now.
People now knew who Admund wanted as his crown princess.
In the midst of this, if they heard what she had done, their reaction was clear as day.
No matter how much she resisted, it wouldn’t be easy to escape if the Odoi family actively intervened.
Aria was especially worried about Archbishop Hayden.
He was a devout believer.
If a believer spoke up using his name, the situation afterwards would surely be the worst.
She had to somehow smooth over the current incident.
Otherwise, even the people who had been somewhat favorable to her would all side with Clea.
Aria pondered. How could she get out of this situation?
“Aria, shall I help you?”
“How can you?”
Just as she was fretting and wondering what to do, Aria heard someone’s voice in her ear.
For a moment, Aria thought she had misheard.
When she turned her head, she saw a familiar face.
“Lloyd.”
By the time she noticed his presence, he was already right in front of her.
Aria tried to move away a bit as the distance was too close.
But as if not allowing it, Lloyd grabbed Aria’s wrist.
“Looks like you need help.”
He said to Aria with a bright smile.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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